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Sugar in food supplements

Sunday January 20, 2019

Photo caption: sugar v natural supplements

You may be surprised, or even shocked, to hear that many mass-market vitamins contain heaps of sugars and other additives. As the leading brand of ethical vitamins, here at Viridian Nutrition, the entire range is free from excipients, added sugar, preservatives, additives, artificial colours or flavourings, binders or fillers.

No doubt, you are choosing food supplements for you and your family for a number of reasons, either as an insurance on top of an already healthy diet, to avoid deficiencies, or to address specific health issues.

Therefore, your expectation is for the supplement to provide the key nutrients, the active compounds and nothing else. However, sadly this is often not the case. Inactive manufacturing aids, also referred to as inert ingredients or excipients, are commonly found in food supplements.

These are added during the manufacturing process to speed up production or to improve the taste or appearance of the tablet, capsule or liquid. These additives include binders, fillers, dyes, preservatives, flavouring agents, artificial sweeteners and even sugar.

When reviewing a food supplement, it is important to check the full ingredients list which by law must highlight every ingredient in descending order starting with the ingredient which is contained in the highest amount.

Food supplements may contain sugars in a number of different guises including glucose, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, cane syrup and many more. See below examples of the full ingredients list of the popular ‘gummy’ style food supplements available aimed at children, note that sugar is often the first and therefore largest ingredient:

With increasing amounts of sugar found in the food chain[i], additional sugar is certainly not needed in food supplements. High intakes of sugar have been linked to numerous health conditions including diabetes, obesity and heart disease[ii] so when taking a food supplement to improve your overall health, it makes little sense that the supplement should contain any level of sugar.

At Viridian Nutrition, our message to you is ‘read the label’ – carefully - as many companies choose to have two ingredients lists – one featuring just the actives, and a second listing the full ingredient list including all the nasty additives.

The information contained in this article is not intended to treat, diagnose or replace the advice of a health practitioner. Please consult a qualified health practitioner if you have a pre-existing health condition or are currently taking medication. Food supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet.

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